CFH Racing selects Chevy for engines, aero kits

By
Dave Lewandowski
| Published:
Sep 17, 2014

CFH Racing’s announcement today that it will run Chevrolet’s engine and aero kits during the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series season is a homecoming of sorts for team principal Sarah Fisher.

The recently-formed team is a merger of Ed Carpenter Racing and Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing is co-owned by Ed Carpenter, Fisher and Wink Hartman that will be based on Main Street in Speedway, Ind.

“Being a part of the Chevy family in the past, I am looking forward to rejoining their organization,” said Fisher, the first female driver to win a Verizon IndyCar Series pole position (2002 at Kentucky Speedway). “The decision to partner CFH Racing with Chevrolet was the first of many that we will make together as a team. The process was sincerely a group effort and encourages all of us as to how we will work as a team.

“I have been extremely grateful for the partner that Honda has been in my career and to SFHR. We are thankful for their ongoing support of the Verizon IndyCar Series.”

CFH Racing is scheduled to field two full-season cars in 2015 with the 2.2-liter, twin-turbocharged, direct-injection V6 engines that have guided Chevrolet to three consecutive Manufacturer Championships and 33 victories since returning to IndyCar racing in 2012. With the announcement, Chevrolet will supply engines for 11 entries in 2015.

Differentiating bodywork will be supplied by both manufacturers, starting with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 27-29.

Josef Newgarden, who recorded a best finish of second at Iowa Speedway this season for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing, returns for 2015. Carpenter, whose third-year team won three of the 18 races this season with Chevy power, will continue to compete on ovals. He finished in the top 10 in four of his six races, including a victory in June at Texas Motor Speedway. Carpenter also earned the Verizon P1 Award for the Indianapolis 500 for the second consecutive year. Mike Conway, who drove the No. 20 car in road/street course races, won at Long Beach and Toronto.

“Team Chevy has delivered for ECR over the past three years, and I know that our new combination of CFH Racing and Chevrolet will continue to put us in a great position moving forward,” said Carpenter, who will be among the drivers participating Sept. 23 in a Firestone tire test on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval. “We are totally confident in their product and cannot wait to debut the Chevrolet aero kit starting in 2015.

“As a group of American owners and right now mostly American drivers, to be associated with the Chevy brand, it's something that we have a lot of pride in in representing some of the principles that made our country great and Chevrolet has always been a big part of that. We really feel like our brand fits well with Chevy's brand, and just hope to continue what's already has been a good partnership for further down the road.”

In 2011 at Kentucky Speedway, Carpenter provided Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing its first victory. Hartman became a co-owner of the Indianapolis-based team a few months later.

“Adding Josef Newgarden to the Chevrolet IndyCar V6 driver roster, and Sarah Fisher and Wink Hartman along with Ed Carpenter to our key partners in IndyCar is exciting for Chevrolet,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet’s vice president of performance vehicles and motorsports. “Ed's team has produced tremendous results the last three seasons, and we will be thrilled to see the CFH Racing Chevy-powered cars on the track in 2015.”